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I arrived at the Ruth Bancroft Garden within a few minutes of the members only 9am opening time for the annual fall plant sale on an October Saturday. The parking lot was already full, so I parked on the residential street around the corner and walked in from there. This sale has exploded in popularity , having once consisted of a leisurely stroll around a couple of tables of plants at the entrance folly, to this years modestly frenzied atmosphere with traffic attendants and cash only express check-outs, no doubt fueled by the continued rise in demand for succulents and xeric plants. Strategic planing is now required for both attendees and organizers. My strategy always involves taking advantage of the early opening time to take photos in the garden under the superior pre-10am lighting conditions . October with its warm slanty light is particularly fine for this, and the majority of the early shoppers head for the sale leaving the garden relatively empty. I wish I'd had more …

Taken in haste between wind gusts , my Bloomday offering this month highlights the bright spots in the untidy, floppy and mid-renovation garden. My shovel has been active in September as I continue upending plants which no longer please me, or play the roll they were cast in.

I typically don't plant sunflowers , not enough room for the big-uns . This year an extreme mid-summer cut back to Cecile Bruner to allow for an infrastructure repair opened a sunny spot in one of my Hateful Areas where this volunteer popped up.

The Fuchsias are all blooming nicely, and our relatively cool summer has kept them looking fresh. Winston Churchill here.

Though not winter hardy for me , Salvia 'Wendys Wish' is purchased every spring as soon as she makes her appearance at the garden center.

All of the many Oreganos I own are blooming, but I can only offer a photo of Oreganum dictamnus 'Dittany of Crete'.

Many futile attempts have been made here to grow the allegedly vigorous Cobea scandens , a tender vine from Mexico . It's been tried in a large container, and in various in-ground locations each attempt ending in failure. This spring I was tempted again and lingered near the row of flats at Annies and selected a well-gown specimen, resolved that this would be the final effort.
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The placement decision was lengthy , but I ended up planting it at the base of the Bourbon rose, Madame Isaac Pereire, where it would have the benefit of the occasional extra water provided to Madame, and the run off from nearby patio containers. Madame Isaac would be the trellis , with Lady Banks waiting in the wings above should the vine actually grow. Here looking happy and green at the base of it's rosy companion...

...and here it clambers up to the 2nd story and hangs out with Lady Banks.

We went outside to see where Doobie, our most skittish cat, was hiding. It was dark, no power, no moon. The night sky was dense with stars - a sight not often seen unless you are camping . We couldn't waste flashlight power outside when indoors was a sea of broken glass and fallen household contents. Violent earthquakes are shocking events, and your mind starts to organize itself into an action plan..lets sweep up the glass, lets see if the chimney is still up, lets see if we have water , listen for gas leaks etc. All these things you just do, as calmly as you can. The shock of what has just happened , a 20 second event in the middle of the night, put us on auto pilot. . But it would have been beautiful to sit in the garden, and look up at the dark skies we never see here. Our job though, was inside the house, with the flashlight and the broom.
Later in the day we went outside, needing a break from the debris and curious to see what might have occurred there.

Travel season continued for me with a short trip to Chicago , business related and tightly scheduled. Every time I go to Chicago I tell my self that the next time I will take an extra day and do some touristy stuff, but it was not to be this year. Still, I always find a way to pay another visit to the Lurie Garden in Millennium park.I've blogged about this garden previously here, and here . Designed by a world class triumvirate of Piet Oudolf, Robert Israel and the Seattle firm Gustafson,Guthrie and Nicol, the garden was completed in 2004. I've visited several times and taken vast quantities of photos--this is a garden I never tire of. It remains in the top tier of gardens for me ; a space that presents a stylized version of the North American prairie .

There are several routes that will take you into the garden, but access through the 'shoulders hedge is my favorite.

I've done a fair amount of garden touring this summer, in public and private gardens on both coasts. New England gardens can be both exciting and frustrating -lavish, verdant and impossible to duplicate here in Northern California. The environmental trio of humidity, summer rain and warm nights seems to facilitate explosive growth, the trade off for a bitter winter. I'll keep my winter thanks, but would welcome a modest amount of summer rain. Only when I'm at the office or sleeping of course, and nothing that would turn flowers into blobs or instigate flopping.I hate flopping.
Portland on the other hand, has many similarities to my own zone 9/8 (like a late April Aries, I'm on the cusp) climate. In spite of it's reputation for constant rain , summers are relatively dry (find some data here ) and winters wet and mild. Intellectually, I knew all this when I stepped on the Fling bus. I've visited Portland frequently in all seasons and previous to this trip ha…